All Anchors share one defining trait: the ability to affect narrative without replacing it.
What distinguishes them from one another is how they choose to do so.
These tendencies are known as Narrative Archetypes. They are not roles assigned by the Anchors’ Guild, nor are they permanent labels. They emerge naturally over time, shaped by instinct, experience, and belief.
An Anchor may shift Archetypes during their life.
Some embody more than one.
Most never name theirs aloud.
The Storywake, however, always notices.
Writers are Anchors who engage with stories by creating new paths. They introduce ideas, opportunities, or disruptions that did not previously exist within a narrative.
They are drawn to moments where a story feels inevitable—and ask whether it truly must be.
Writers believe that stagnation is a choice, and that even a single new element can redirect an ending.
Common Tendencies
Revealing hidden truths
Inspiring rebellion or reform
Introducing tools, knowledge, or alliances
Altering assumptions others take for granted
Strength
Writers make hope possible where none was expected.
Risk
Writers may overwrite a story rather than support it, replacing meaning with novelty.
Storytellers engage with stories by contextualizing them. They focus on memory, connection, and emotional continuity—ensuring that what happens is understood, not merely endured.
They are drawn to stories that are misunderstood, forgotten, or emotionally fractured.
Storytellers believe that an ending without meaning is its own kind of loss.
Common Tendencies
Mediating between opposing sides
Preserving cultural memory
Helping individuals understand their role in a larger whole
Giving voice to stories that would otherwise be lost
Strength
Storytellers prevent stories from collapsing into emptiness.
Risk
Storytellers may preserve pain too carefully, mistaking remembrance for refusal to let go.
Endmakers are Anchors who specialize in clean endings. They intervene when a story has passed the point where continuation causes harm.
They are drawn to denial, loops, and stagnation—not to destroy them, but to resolve them.
Endmakers believe that refusing an ending is more dangerous than accepting one.
Common Tendencies
Breaking destructive cycles
Forcing confrontation with unavoidable truths
Choosing mercy through finality
Guiding stories toward Homeward
Strength
Endmakers prevent the Unwritten from taking root.
Risk
Endmakers may end stories prematurely, mistaking difficulty for inevitability.
Witnesses are Anchors who understand that presence alone can matter. They observe, stabilize, and endure without forcing change.
They are drawn to moments of uncertainty, hesitation, and choice.
Witnesses believe that not every story needs intervention—and that choosing restraint can itself shape an ending.
Common Tendencies
Standing with individuals during decisive moments
Allowing stories to resolve naturally
Refusing to impose solutions
Providing stability simply by remaining present
Strength
Witnesses preserve autonomy and prevent unnecessary harm.
Risk
Witnesses may confuse restraint with avoidance, allowing preventable collapse.
No Archetype is inherently heroic or harmful.
Each can:
Save a world
Doom a world
Walk away and allow an ending to occur
The difference lies not in the Archetype—but in the honesty of the choice.
A Storyforged Arm resonates with an Anchor’s Archetype, subtly shaping how it responds.
An Arm may:
Encourage a Writer to pause
Urge an Endmaker to be certain
Ground a Storyteller in truth
Remind a Witness that action remains possible
The Arm does not enforce Archetypes.
It reflects them.
Anchors may shift Archetypes over time.
Such shifts often occur:
After a catastrophic failure
Following a clean ending
When an Anchor refuses a role they once embraced
A sudden or forced Archetype shift is often a sign of strain.
A gradual one is growth.
Narrative Archetypes do not define what an Anchor is.
They describe how an Anchor tends to answer the moment when choice appears.
A Writer asks what could be different.
A Storyteller asks what this means.
An Endmaker asks whether it is time.
A Witness asks whether they should act at all.
And the Storywake listens to the answer.